Thursday July 28, 2011
Bud Verge may not have been much of a baseball player, but he’s still a baseball man from a baseball city. So it’s natural that he’d work in the game -- and become the latest Berkshire baseball man to find his way to Baltimore.
Verge, a 1984 St. Joseph’s graduate, is a Manager of Sales and Fan Services for the Baltimore Orioles. His job includes communicating with fans of the club and bringing more of them to his office -- Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
His career in baseball was shaped in the shadow of the Pittsfield Colonials’ current home, Wahconah Park.
"I realized my will to be good [as a young player] was better than my ability to be good," he said. "I became more of a fan of the game and a student of the game.
"I remember going to Wahconah Park with my dad when I was a kid in the ‘70s, and we’d see the Berkshire Brewers. I remember seeing box scores from Little League games, Babe Ruth games, Legion games and high school games. That was a huge part of growing up."
After St. Joseph’s, UMass, Berkshire Community College and the University of Maryland, Verge became manager of the Orioles Team Store in Washington. Soon after the Washington Nationals arrived, though, Verge was "called up" to Baltimore. This is his fourth season working in the stadium’s famed right-field warehouse.
While the Colonials have started the second half of the Can-Am League season, trying to return to the championship series, the Orioles have started the second half trying to avoid another finish in the AL East cellar. Baltimore has not had an over-.500 season since 1997.
Camden Yards, though, is considered to be one of the best stadiums in baseball. While Verge can’t capitalize on winning ball, he knows smaller teams have to promote what’s good about them.
"Wahconah Park’s really got to play up the quaintness," he said. "You still have the wooden bleachers; you still have the covered grandstand; you have the [outfield sunset], so you know you’ll have the 20-minute delay in there."
To their credit, the Colonials have taken parts of the park and made them attractions, much in the same way the Red Sox use Fenway Park’s Monster seats. What could also help is more development around the park.
"A baseball game lasts three hours, roughly," Verge said. You need to develop something that’s going to drive traffic two hours before and afterward. If I was going to visit my parents, would I need to park my car on Seymour Street or one of the side streets to eat somewhere? When I was done at the ballgame, would I then walk someplace to go have a cold one afterwards? I can’t think of those places that are within walking distance. That’s a challenge a lot of towns face when they build ballparks."
Verge comes back to his hometown once or twice a year, and likes that Pittsfield retains a small-town feel while having more activities than in the past. He’s also proud to follow the same path traveled by PHS legend Mark Belanger and Wahconah standout-turned-baseball executive/analyst Jim Duquette.
"There always seems to be somebody from Berkshire County working here," Verge said. "It was Mr. Duquette before me. What they remember about "The Blade" is he grew up in Pittsfield."
To reach Matthew Sprague:
(413) 496-6254.
